Deep Sea Hunter, but Deep Sea Titan

Lotin had already seen through Skadi's little scheme; this Agor girl seemed a little too easy to understand.

"It's alright, you just need to come with me. I need to find my companions and regroup the troops."

Skadi drew the greatsword from her back and casually swung it a few times in the air. Even Lotin had to admit that Skadi now possessed greater power than he had at level 1. However, this was just as good.

Isn't the Deep Sea Titan also a "noob" hero? The nickname "Deep Sea Titan" isn't for nothing. All you need to do is buy the Relic Shield from the system shop and honestly play support first.

Lotin confirmed the properties of the "Relic Shield":

Health: 30

Spell Power: 5

Gold coins/10 seconds: 2

Base health regeneration: 25%

Unique Passive - Loot: When an allied champion is nearby, basic attacks will execute minions below 50% maximum health (30% for ranged champions) and grant that allied champion gold for the kill. (This effect gains one charge every 45 seconds, up to a maximum of 3 charges.)

Quest: Earning gold using this equipment will transform it, granting a unique active ability—Deploying Guards.

(Killing too many minions will reduce the gold reward they provide.)

You can only hold one gold-earning or jungle-type item.

Moreover, the Deepsea Hunter truly had the ability to help him find the Fool. Although that damned cable controller was most likely no longer around, witnessing the Fool and Iberia's golden dream headed towards destruction was still a wonderful thing.

Before his transmigration, Luo Ting was all alone. After his transmigration, the betrayal, forgetting, and abandonment almost turned his wandering soul into a corpse.

He was filled with endless anger that needed to be vented, but his clear and rational mind wouldn't allow him to do anything too reckless. Skadi was just the right person to provide him with such an opportunity to vent.

"Deal made, with one Iberian gold coin as deposit."

Legend has it that paying the "Bilgewater tax" can quell the wrath of the deep-sea titans and even gain their help. Lotin was simply hoping to distract himself from his utter distress with such a small ritual.

The bronze giant walked in front of the hunter Skadi, his eyes piercing the fog.

Chapter Three: The Wage Arrears

What Lotin is most concerned about now is whether the "salary" from his so-called "salary outfit" will be paid on time. Theoretically, the "Relic Shield" should provide 2 gold coins every 10 seconds, but the system tells him that these 2 gold coins will take 10 hours in the real world.

Luo Ting immediately felt that this "salary outfit" was a complete rip-off. His skill cooldowns were synchronized with the real world, so why did this "salary outfit" turn it into a wage arrears? In short, it was impossible for Luo Ting to rely on waiting to make money from the "Holy Relic Shield." After all, the system didn't even have a natural increase in gold coins, so Luo Ting naturally didn't expect to sit back and wait for the gold coins to magically appear.

However, the thought that killing the Terrorfish would only yield a few coins made Loting feel a little better, probably because there were so many Terrorfish and they were so cheap.

"Wait, there's something strange in the fog ahead."

Skadi adopted a sword-drawing stance, swift and concise, without any unnecessary movements.

Lotin had to admit that this deep-sea hunter, created through bioengineering, was a true hunter, and her senses were far more acute than his own.

The heavy brass diving suit did not enhance his senses; instead, it made him even more cumbersome and sluggish. However, the Deep Sea Titan was not a hero known for agility and mobility. His strengths lay in his powerful control, damage mitigation, and decent damage output.

Loting stood still in the thick fog, like a flickering lighthouse, his bright eyes scanning the fog and illuminating an eerie, dark silhouette.

"Hmph, what agile beasts."

The unimaginable muscle density gives these unnatural creatures extremely high agility, and they remain fast even when they are somewhat dehydrated on land.

"I will not stop either."

Loting once again channeled the energy within his body—what we call "mana" in League of Legends—summoning four floating brass gates that surrounded his body, forming a strange shield. A giant, pincer-like dinosaur charged toward Loting's body, which was that of a deep-sea titan. Its flesh and blood collided with the shield and exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

The system showed that the grayish-white shield value had indeed decreased. However, in Loting's memory, the "Deep Sea Fury" skill did not have such a damage return effect. It seems that these skills belonging to the Deep Sea Titan will have some specific manifestations in reality that differ from the game skill descriptions.

"Is this the Originium Arts of the land dwellers?"

Skadi considered this to be her first encounter with "Originium Arts" from land-dwellers—although what she actually saw was not Originium Arts.

The civilization of the Agorians has nothing to do with Originium, while the civilization of the land people is built on Originium, an energy mineral that carries infectious diseases.

Land dwellers use a technique called "Originium Arts" to harness the power of Originium to achieve various specific effects, as recorded in the terminal of Agor City.

"Just consider it that way."

Loting answered calmly.

During the brief exchange, Skadi also swung her sword, employing a tactic of concentrating power into a single point to cause massive destruction—simple, direct, and effective. The shockwave from the greatsword blew away a large swath of sea fog, unleashing a storm of blood and gore.

The Relic Shield can be charged three times, and more than three Terrorfish were turned into mincemeat under Lotin's giant anchor. Only the Terrorfish killed by the charged attack empowered by the Relic Shield provided double-digit gold coins. His only curiosity now is how the effect of "giving teammates kill gold coins" is realized in reality.

"It's really strange that these dinosaurs aren't afraid of you."

Skadi skillfully shook off the bloodstains from the greatsword and sheathed it.

"Huh? Why does my backpack feel so heavy?"

Skadi pulled a shiny Iberian gold coin from her pocket. She couldn't understand why she would have the currency of this landlocked country, so she tilted her head in confusion.

Lotin observed everything calmly from inside his brass diving suit. His own gold coins were virtual and could only be used within the system, while the gold coins he gave to his teammates were the physical currency of the Terra continent.

If he can earn both travel expenses and equipment funds, then it seems that this "salary equipment" is not entirely useless. It is somewhat useful, but not much. Moreover, the system does not currently have a clear explanation of the concept of "teammate". He can only see that Skadi is his "teammate", but he does not yet know why Skadi became a "teammate".

I should have just bought items like Doran's Shield.

"Just a bastard who strays from the group."

Lotin observed that these dinosaurs acted entirely on instinct, without any organization, which was obvious. Skadi's doubts probably stemmed from the fact that she had spent most of her time observing whether the dinosaurs were afraid of her.

The problem is how to explain those Iberian gold coins to Skadi.

To be honest, this was the most embarrassing and stressful moment for Lotin since he came ashore. Fortunately, his wetsuit covered his facial expression, so no one could see his embarrassment.

“An ancient contract, to give you a way to pay me the deposit.”

The implication of this statement is—mind your own business regarding the Originium Arts of the Land People.

Lotin vaguely remembered that Skadi wasn't an expert in Originium Arts in Agor either. No, rather, her understanding of the concept of Originium Arts was still in its formative stages. If she couldn't explain something, she would just use a concept that the other party only vaguely understood to gloss over it.

He genuinely believed that this kind of deception might work.

Skadi looked at the Iberian gold coin in her hand with a puzzled expression, and then glanced at the brass giant in front of her, who was still 4 meters tall even after going ashore and shrinking.

Well, she gave up on investigating further. Perhaps it was just the arrogant mindset of the Agorians at work. Maybe this kind of thing is actually quite common on land, right, Skadi?

"Your deposit."

Skadi seemed to believe it and handed the gold coin to Lotin. Lotin actually felt much more refreshed after receiving the coin.

And the system just happened to provide a notification at that moment:

“Received Bilgewater tax, providing a 12-hour stress relief bonus.”

"The Bilgewater tax reward is random, and the probability of the reward will be announced later."

But this tax was originally supposed to be collected by Nautilus for his superior, Hu Mu, but now it has been given to Lotin himself.

Well, even though it's just a coin and the reward isn't very useful, it's still good that it can give Loting something to temporarily distract him from the Fool's betrayal and help him adjust his mood.

"Honest hunter, you will receive my help."

Hearing Loting's unusually cheerful tone, Skadi could sense, even through her diving suit, that the salvage worker was in a good mood. However, the bad news was that Skadi's understanding of Originium Arts on land seemed to have embarked on a path of no return.

Chapter 4: Sandwich Cookies, Click to Enjoy

The taciturn salvage crew and the taciturn hunter kept each other company, naturally resulting in very little communication; their temporary exchange of interests and cooperative relationship was what it was all about. Skadi was someone Lotin knew before his transmigration, but that was all. As an unfortunate person who had been forgotten and betrayed, it was perfectly normal for Lotin to prioritize his own interests.

Following Skadi would give you the opportunity to find the Fool and take revenge, and you would also have something to rely on when you are not strong enough. You could also complete the "salary suit" mission faster. Skadi, on the other hand, took advantage of the group's fear of his existence in order to suppress or intimidate something.

There's nothing wrong with each person getting what they need.

Lotin's only pastime was browsing the system's shop interface, thinking about his equipment plan, or staring at his experience bar, which was about to reach level 2.

Although Loting has a game-like system, the real world is not a game, so his equipment planning cannot be completely based on the game logic of "League of Legends".

Suddenly, a strange power flowed into Luo Ting's body, and the unusual warmth made him stop in his tracks.

"Is there an enemy?"

Skadi saw the bronze giant in front of her suddenly stop and gripped her greatsword alertly, but her powerful senses as a deep-sea hunter detected nothing.

"nothing."

Luo Ting casually brushed aside his sudden pause, mentioning the feeling he had just experienced...

No doubt about it, he had leveled up, from level 1 to level 2, and he could feel his body becoming more resilient and stronger.

The expected new skill points have also appeared. Now, Lotin can choose the versatile "clearing the waterway" skill without hesitation. The experience he has accumulated over the past few months on the Fool's Ship using the anchor-grabbing equipment for salvage operations gives him some confidence that he can accurately hook the target.

"Host level 2 detected. Rune system activated now."

"Once the rune page is confirmed, it cannot be changed in the short term. Please consider this carefully."

"The system will grant you one opportunity to change your runes at level 4."

"You can spend 10000 gold coins to unlock a new rune page, and you can switch between different rune pages at will."

When Loting was conquering the Rift before crossing over, he would directly copy the rune pages and rarely manually mix the runes himself. These runes could provide heroes with various special abilities and bonuses at the beginning of the game, and had high practical value.

Unfortunately, Lotin doesn't have any ready-made examples to copy now, and he can't follow the game's logic in choosing runes.

First of all, one thing is certain: you cannot revive like in the game, and the system has made this clear.

Secondly, there are no places to recover like "springs" in this world. You have to rely on your own attributes for health and mana recovery, as well as the recovery items you have, to restore your status.

Therefore, you must choose runes that allow you to replenish your supplies at any time and enhance your sustained combat and recovery capabilities. As a support/tank hero, Nautilus should choose the "Resolve" and "Inspiration" rune categories, as these two runes do provide considerable sustained combat and recovery capabilities. You can consider more aggressive replacements after you have initially developed your strength.

Choosing "Aftershock" is to enhance one's resistance and damage-inflicting ability when facing powerful enemies.

Choosing "Fountain of Life" is to enhance one's recovery methods while ensuring that the support one is currently relying on doesn't cause any problems.

"Overgrowth" is the most reliable of the three types of unlimited growth.

The biscuit in the Enlightenment rune was a safety precaution suggested by Lothing when he was unsure of the damage-causing capabilities of Terra's native creatures.

The "Cookie Delivery" rune was originally described in the game as "Get one free [cookie] every 2 minutes until 6 minutes", but the system description has changed it to "Get one free [cookie] every 12 hours, and you can accumulate 6 cookies".

The descriptions regarding the 50-point mana boost from the first use of the cookie and its healing effect remain completely unchanged.

This is much more conscientious than "Relic Shield". The description of "Relic Shield" that you gain money over time has not changed, but the actual period for gaining money has changed from 10 seconds to 10 hours. In comparison, at least "Cookie Delivery" clearly states the period.

Lotin suspects that the "Relic Shield" is an item that was removed in Season 14, and there was only one of its kind in the entire system, so there is an error in the description.

Sure enough, a cookie appeared in Luo Ting's hand. He tentatively put the cookie into the dark part of his diving helmet, and a very ordinary-tasting cookie appeared in his mouth. His physical fatigue and mental exhaustion gradually began to dissipate.

The system told Lotin that he did not need to excrete or eat while wearing the brass diving suit. The food and drinks he consumed would automatically be converted into the effect of restoring health or mana, but the total amount restored by regular food was very small and the speed was very slow.

Once Lotin has a basic understanding of the strength of the enemies in Terra and has a relatively reliable ability to protect himself, it won't be too late to replace "Aftershock" with "Undying," "Life Source" with "Shield Bash," and "Enlightenment" with "Witchcraft," and make a choice to gather storms.

As the sea fog gradually dissipated and the surrounding view began to open up, Loting's thoughts were pulled back to reality from the rune page.

The road beneath their feet had finally transformed from a mess of gravel into a proper paved road—a testament to human activity and civilization. Although Lotin usually walked ahead, Skadi was generally the one who gave directions; she was, in a sense, the "employer," so it was more reasonable for her to lead the way.

The only basis for this deep-sea hunter's guidance was the guidance brought by his "deep-sea hunter bloodline".

The salt-tolerant roadside trees are now withered and lifeless, as if their vitality has been forcibly drained. Various debris, bloodstains from fights, and cart wheels stuck in the mud can be seen everywhere on both sides of the road.

"Greedy Iberians."

Even when disaster struck, these Iberians could not overcome their inherently greedy nature. Lotin knew, of course, that there were many kind and gentle people among them who were fleeing simply to survive. But the scene before him clearly told him that some people were trying to take advantage of the chaos and carry out barbaric and shameless plunder while their compatriots were in distress.

Of course, in the end, these miscellaneous items were not taken away. It is likely that the meaningless struggle wasted the time for escape and ultimately benefited the hungry dinosaurs.

Skadi simply observed the scene on both sides of the road quietly, without saying a word. In her eyes, it was meaningless to judge a tragedy that had nothing to do with her, and it was understandable that the abandoned salvage worker was so sarcastic and mean towards the Iberians.

The sea fog receded, but the humidity in the air remained unchanged. The settlement before us could only be described as enormous, with high walls, watchtowers, and trucks—all signs indicating that this was not just a settlement, but a fortress.

On the moldy, blackened road signs, the illegible Iberian script no longer reveals the original name of the place.

The absence of the towering lighthouse "Eye of Iberia" in the distance indicates that this is not Granfalo, another fortified settlement.

"Hunter, you'd better tell us the truth about why you came here."

“I can feel the presence of my blood relative; she is right here.”

Skadi's deep-sea hunter blood wouldn't lie to her, and Lotin knew that Skadi's judgment was probably correct.

The problem is that entering this place is too risky. Her blood relatives are here, which means that there is a high probability that there is someone called "Operator Specter" in the original work. And this deep-sea hunter named "Specter" is likely still being experimented on by the Deep Sea Church at this time.

Following this line of reasoning, one can deduce that there is a high probability that the Deep Sea Church has influence in this place, and that these corrupt cultists will try to seduce Skadi and awaken Isamara within her.

To convince himself, this girl had previously downplayed the issue by saying, "As long as I go with her, it'll be fine." Now she's dragging him into a fire pit, which he's somewhat reluctant to do.